What We'll Do For a Green Lawn

While we sit and sympathize with the residents of Lexington Manor, who have seen their neighborhood turned into an EPA Superfund site due to lead and arsenic contamination from a former firing range, we may be unwittingly creating the same mess in our own backyards.

Last week, in a fit of landscape envy, I decided something needed to be done to get my lawn to look as deep green as those of my neighbors. People in the know suggested an iron supplement would do the trick, so I went to my local garden center and bought a product called Ironite. According to the label it is a natural source of iron, zinc, calcium and other micronutrients. Perfect. Too bad the label didn’t list everything that was inside the bag.

A Google search on the product turned up reports that Ironite is also a natural source of arsenic, lead, cadmium and a host of other hazardous heavy metals. And not just trace amounts. Minnesota Department of Agriculture tests showed arsenic levels of 3,000 to 6,000 parts per million, or about 1,000 times higher than those found in other lawn care products. Lead levels were about 3,400 parts per million. Now I am no scientist, but by my rough calculations I figure that my four bags of Ironite contain about a half pound of arsenic and almost as much lead. So how did all this stuff get in there?

It turns out that the ‘natural’ source for Ironite is derived from the tailings of a former silver mine in Arizona. Under any other circumstance the source for Ironite would be considered a hazardous waste, but a loophole in the federal law not only exempts mining wastes, but makes it difficult for states to regulate the sale of products made from them. Ironically, it is recommended that any unused Ironite should be handled as a hazardous waste when disposing.

To be fair, the manufacturer of the product claims that the hazardous components in Ironite are trapped in minerals that make them safe for general lawn care. So safe in fact, that their web site compares the product label to one on a box of breakfast cereal. I am not sure which breakfast cereal that could be, but in my mind I have a picture of the Incredible Hulk downing a nice bowl of heavy metals.

Perhaps the product is safe, but it seems disingenuous to claim it is natural and compare it to cereal. At the very least, the label should carry a complete list of the compounds found in the product. That way the consumer could make an educated decision whether or not to use it. But that may be exactly what the manufacturer fears most.

What really scares me, though, is that despite what I have learned about Ironite, I still tried to rationalize using it on my lawn because of my deep-seated desire for green grass. If I am willing to rationalize away the risks in pursuit of green grass, is it that far-fetched to imagine the manufacturer rationalizing away the risks in pursuit of another type of green.

Commissioner Mike Kilburn Got His, Now Stay Out.

Warren County Commisioner Mike Kilburn's proposal to charge impact fees up to $10,000 for new homes and apartments represents selfishness of the utmost degree.  He wants to penalize others who seek nothing more than what he and his forebearers sought when they chose to live outside the city.  It is today's equivalent of building a walled city to keep the undesirables out.

It is a fact that our population continues to grow across the country.  Unless we wish to stack people up in ever denser urban areas, new development is inevitable.  Some see new development as unwanted and an invasion of their own personal domain, but none of us has any more right to affordable open spaces than anyone else.  

Impact fees may help protect individual communities from unwanted growth, but at the cost of limiting housing opportunities for all but the wealthiest families.  The result will be a community even more divided along financial lines - and that cannot be good for any of us.  It is time to break with the "I've got mine, to hell with you" attitude and realize that we are all in this together.  It is that realization that makes for a true community.

The Beauty of Baseball

Why I love baseball...

A child can appreciate the roar of the crowd and a mouthful of cotton candy. A casual fan enjoys seeing their 'favorite' player come to bat and hopefully a victory by the home team. The fanatic can pore over statistics and argue ad infinitum about the value of OPS versus BA versus OBP.

Baseball is ideal in its dimensions and rules. How else to explain that a runner and the ball both reach first base within but a second or two of each other on virtually any cleanly fielded ground ball. Or that a pitched ball has time to curve before reaching home plate, but not so much to make it consistently un-hittable or un-catchable. Or that a team may lose 11-2 one day, then turn around and beat the same opponent 10-3 the next (or 1-0).

Beauty can be found in the infield fly rule.

My father can love baseball for its history, I can love it for its intracacies, my wife can love it for its outdoor summer setting and my four year-old can enjoy it for ice cream and the chance to yell 'Griffey Junior!', (even if he's not playing).

What a game. Play Ball!

Neither Candidate Has an Ideal Plan for Social Security

Neither candidate has a perfect plan for Social Security.  Al Gore's ignores the problem and does nothing to solve the fact that current Social Security taxes will not cover the baby boomers when they retire.  His plan to pay down the debt, then pay for Social Security from the interest savings is a back-door maneuver to use funds from general revenues (in other words, money that comes from sources other than Social Security taxes) to pay for benefits.

George W. Bush’s plan to use part of the surplus we now enjoy from Social Security taxes would allow us to use the time between now and 2015, when Social Security starts running a deficit, to get a better return on the money paid into the system than is now the case.  In the long-run, this is probably the better of the two plans, though the period between 2025 and 2045 (when many of the boomers will be gone) could be dicey.

There is a third option, with some trade-offs that might, just might, make it possible to get something done.  Here it is:

1) Take Social Security “off budget”.  In other words, do not include Social Security surpluses or deficits in the total federal budget calculation.  This would clarify the actual budget picture and prevent politicians on both sides of the aisle from hiding the true picture of our financial situation from the American people.

2) Go through with Mr. Bush’s tax cut plan, but only in exchange for elimination of the income cap that will stop Social Security taxes at $80,000 in 2001.  Effectively, the wealthy would get a much smaller net tax cut, while company matching would help make up the difference in revenue.

3) Allow people the option to invest 2% of their Social Security taxes in approved investments.  While many shudder at the thought of government regulation, perhaps there could be some type of minimum certification for mutual funds or other risk-spreading investments that would make them eligible for Social Security investing.  The goal would be to set a standard (i.e. average return, volatility rating, fund size, etc.), then let fund managers strive to hit the standard, if they so choose.  This would minimize some risk, while still keeping the government out of direct approval of specific stocks or funds.

4) Cap the 2% private investment to the first $80,000 of income.  This would happen today under Mr. Bush’s proposal anyway, but with the elimination of the $80,000  cap everything paid on incomes over $80,000 would go into the Social Security trust fund.  This would extend the solvency of the fund for basic benefits.  A little actuarial work can determine the correct investment caps.

The primary goal of this plan is to assure that Social Security can stand on its own.  If it is unable to do that, we face a world of hurt under any scenario.  Yes, guaranteed benefits may need to be reduced and means-testing may be necessary, but if we can develop a generation of investors with significant personal nest eggs, those realities will not be as painful.

The argument has been made that the stock market is too volatile, too risky.  Yet since the inception of Social Security the Dow Jones Industrial average has generated a 7.3% average annual return.  The S&P 500 has done even better, sporting better than an 11% return annually.  For a worker making $40,000 a year, his investment in a fund tracking the Dow would be worth $250,000 after 45 years of earnings.  A dual income couple making $80,000 would have built a nest egg of nearly $500,000.  Portfolios of this size provide a great deal of security for seniors.

It must also be remembered, that if the stock market were to stagnate for years, it would be a reflection on the economy as a whole.  Traditional Social Security funding would not be able to support the system under such circumstances either.

At some point, we will have to move from a pay as you go system.  Given our current surpluses, now appears to the our best opportunity to do that.  Mr. Gore’s plan is really no plan at all.  His so-called “lockbox” is an illusion (the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which endorsed him, calls it fraud.)  Mr. Bush’s plan, which is bold and worth pursuing, can be made to work with some actuarial work.  But the time to act is now.

Why and How a Flat Tax Might Work

There are three reasons we should consider a flat tax:

1) It is simple - How much time have you spent filling out your Social Security returns? None. Why? Because it is a simple flat tax.

2) It doesn't require significant collection efforts. Sales taxes require a fair amount of paperwork by the collector (i.e. retailer) to report and remit. Plus, depending on what is exempted, it could be very complicated and prone to abuse and fraud.

3) It can be as fair or progressive as we want it to be. Consider these two scenarios.

A 10% tax on everything over $25,000:
A person making $25,000 or less would pay no tax
A person making $50,000 would pay $2,500 (10% of $25,000) or 5% of their total pay.
A person making $100,000 would pay $7,500 or 7.5%
A person making $1,000,000 would pay $97,500 or 9.75%

A 20% tax on everything over $50,000:
A person making $50,000 or less pays nothing.
A person making $100,000 pays $10,000 or 10%
A person making $1,000,000 pays $190,000 or 19%

As you can see, we can set the rate and the exempted amount wherever we would want to get the effective rate desired for various income levels. In example 2 above, the person making $1,000,000 makes ten times the person making $100,000, but pays 19 times more in taxes. Still, he pays no more on each incremental dollar than anyone else. It achieves both progressivity and fairness.

Letter to the NY Times: Bill Clinton

As stated in your lead editorial today (12/20/98) regarding the issues now in front of the U.S. Senate,  ...they and the country face the problem of dealing with a battered President whose calculated strategy of lying over the airways and under oath has prolonged this crisis...".Therein lies the real dilemma.  We have to ask, are we better off with a senate trial and conviction, a meaningful censure that diminishes the President, or a resignation.  Those are our options and none are pretty.

It is unfortunate, but Mr. Clinton has permanently lost credibility with a large portion of the American public, including many who would like to see him continue as President.  We can hope that no serious crisis arises during the next two years to test his ability to lead, but that may be dangerous wishful thinking.  Is it really in our best interest to see Mr. Clinton finish out his term, or are we simply blinded by our desire to deny his opponents the satisfaction of his removal?  They are separate questions and we must decide the former without regard to the latter, difficult as that may be.

The Global Implications of Bill Clinton's Character

Bill Clinton’s presidency is being rocked by scandal that should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed his history of twisting the truth and denial of wrong-doing (can anyone name one instance in which he was forthright in admitting any failing on his part?).  While it may appear that the substance of this scandal (an alleged illicit affair with a White House intern and subsequent attempts at cover-up) is trivial, the underlying moral vacuum that gave rise to such a situation has vast policy and national security implications.

The nation and the world currently face a major geopolitical threat in Saddam Hussein and his apparent stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.  Facing down this threat will require a leader with the moral authority to act from a position of strength, a position that our president cannot claim at this moment, and probably never could.

Some (though surprisingly few) will argue that this crisis is the result of George Bush’s decision not to pursue Saddam at the end of the gulf war, thereby letting him off the hook.  Upon closer evaluation, however, one can see that the decision to end the war when we did was our only realistic option.

We must remember that the coalition that fought the gulf war was a fragile one at best.  It required skillful diplomacy to gain support not only from our closest allies (Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, etc.) but also from traditional opponents of U.S. policy including Syria, Iran and the Soviet Union (let us not forget that the Soviet Union was still in existence at that time).  Incredibly, we also secured Israel’s neutrality despite their historic hatred and distrust of Iraq.  Gaining this commitment required an incredible amount of trust in our word – both in assuring Israel that we would defend them and that we would not over-reach on our objectives, which would have caused untold outcry in the Arab world.

This coalition was built upon a series of commitments made by the United States, and enacted through the United Nations, that the ultimate objective of any military action taken in the gulf would be solely to force Iraq out of Kuwait.  While it is entirely likely that we could have easily driven into Baghdad, successfully removing Saddam was more problematic, and even then was more likely to create havoc than avoid it.

Consider the implications had we gone beyond the original intent of the war.  Simply going into Iraq would have violated the UN resolutions and called into question our credibility.  Given the widespread animosity toward the U.S. in that part of the world (particularly the view that we are an imperialist nation intent on domination), there can be little doubt that the support from the region’s nations would have evaporated quickly.  At that point all bets are off and we are no longer the leader of a moral and universally accepted action, but instead a reckless and untrusted intruder in the region.

Even if the coalition did miraculously hold together, removing Saddam was not a simple matter of finding and eliminating him.  There is no way that we could just go in, get him and get out without leaving a power vacuum in one of the most volatile (and economically desirable) nations on earth.  We would have found ourselves in the unenviable position of either 1)  trying to install a new regime whose legitimacy would have been under immediate suspicion, or 2)  finding ourselves in the role of occupying conqueror in one of the most hostile places on earth. 

Neither of these outcomes are either desirable or workable.  Consider our effort at installing democracy in Haiti.  This is a nation so weak that our first attempt at landing Marines there was met with a rag-tag group of inhabitants wielding sticks and machetes.  Yet it was just last month, nearly three years after being virtually welcomed in, that we were finally able to withdraw the last of our troops.  Compare that to what we would have encountered had we tried to impose a new government in Iraq.  The quagmire could have made Vietnam look like a mere blip by comparison.

Of more concern than trying to rule an unruly nation, however, would be the damage done to our credibility among all nations.  Why would anyone ever trust our word again in any conflict in which we sought to take the leading role.  It is a position we simply could not afford to find ourselves in.

As a result, we stood by our word and decided to use the coalition to force Saddam into compliance with terms of surrender through use of embargoes and inspections.  For eighteen months the coalition held firm and progress was made.  However, there was a change in leadership in the U.S. and the coalition has steadily broken down.  Today, not only are Syria and Iran no longer reliable supporters of inspection efforts, but neither are such expected allies as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia or even France.  Part of this is due to economic pressures arising from desire for Iraqi oil, but mostly it is due to the lack of leadership from the United States.

Unlike politics in the U.S., where we are easily swayed by style and sound bites, in the world of diplomacy only two things matter – the strength of your convictions and the trustworthiness of your word.  Unfortunately we have a president who possesses neither.  While it was popular during the 1992 election to dismiss Bill Clinton’s prevarications as insignificant, demanding instead that we  “stick to the issues”, his character did matter and today we are paying the price – not for a silly sexual dalliance in the White House, but for a lack of power and prestige arising entirely from the character flaws we so cavalierly disregarded six years ago.

Open Minded?

On more than one occasion I have heard a person of liberal persuasion consider themselves open minded due simply to the fact that they are liberal.  Their argument is flawed however, in that they believe the substance of their opinions, in and of themselves, demonstrate open mindedness, when in reality it is how one arrives at those opinions that is the determinant of whether one is open minded.

The ironic part of all this is that liberal opinions generally arise from emotional rather than intellectual considerations and therefore have little to do at all with “mindedness” of any sort.  This fact also helps to explain why liberal concepts are easier to sell in sound bites and general mass media.

Emotional appeals demand only a passive response; intellectual appeals demand an active response.  Emotional appeals make you feel good, happy, sad, angry or any other of a host of “emotions”, requiring no effort or action on the part of the individual.  The response is natural and immediate.  On the other hand, intellectual appeals require effort on the part of the person the appeal is directed toward.  They require one to think, consider, evaluate and extrapolate data, ideas and concepts to come to a reasonable conclusion.  This demands an active response, which is more than many people are willing to do.

Henry Ford once said, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why so few people engage in it.”  Hence, the majority of people are unwilling to invest the time or effort needed to consider intellectual appeals and are instead content to react emotionally.  The emotions that conservative principles are most successful at generating are ones of anger – at welfare recipients, beneficiaries of affirmative action policies, over-reaching unions, bloated government etc.   If one does not like being angry – and most people don’t – they are likely to be repulsed by such appeals.  Yet if one makes the effort to consider the appeal intellectually – that welfare recipients will be better off and happier if they look to themselves rather than government for improvement in their lives; that we can never be a truly color-blind nation until we stop classifying and dividing ourselves by race, gender and ethnicity; that unions who strive to preserve jobs made unnecessary by technological improvements are holding wages down for everyone; that a government that cannot end the subsidy of mohair farmers (a remnant of our need for mohair during World War I) should not be allowed to decide which new technologies should be supported today – then they may come to very different conclusions about conservative appeals.

Democracy requires an active and knowledgeable electorate.  Unfortunately, we are negligent in our responsibility to learn and think.

It is wonderful to be open-hearted.  It is vital that we be open-minded as well.  We just must be willing to make the effort.

What I Believe

I believe...

1. That people must look to themselves to better their lives.  
2. The problem with thinking that government can improve your life is that you come to expect government to improve your life.  
3. We get more of what we subsidize, less of what we tax.  
4. We tax income and subisidize unemployment.  
5. That equality and liberty are diametrically opposed principles.  
6. It is easier to lose than gain new freedoms.  
7. That government has an insatiable appetite for power and control.  
8. We must fight diligently to retain our freedoms from subtle as well as blatant encroachment.  
9. The wealth of the nation consists of the sum of its' goods and services.  
10. Money is worth only what it can purchase.  
11. The forced transfer of a dollar from producer to non-producer dilutes the value of that dollar.  
12. The dilution in value of a dollar due to forced transfer increases proportionally with the percentage of total dollars transferred.  
13. We could double the number of dollars in circulation without increasing the wealth of the nation one bit.  
14. Families must provide sustenance, discipline and love to raise healthy, productive children.  
15. Government can provide sustenance and punishment (an inefficient form of discipline due to its reactive rather than proactive nature), but certainly not love.  
16. I believe you can legislate equality but not respect.  
17. I believe respect must be earned.  
18. We will not have racial harmony until there is mutual respect among the races.  
19. I believe that sometimes less is more.  
20. Statistics can lie.  
21. If people stop working, the unemployment rate goes up.  
22. If people stop looking for work, the unemployment rate goes down.  
23. If people start looking for work, the unemployment rate goes up.  
24. If people find work, the unemployment rate goes down.  
25. I believe that unemployment statistics can be twisted to mean anything.  
26. I believe that policies based upon incorrect assumptions are worse than no policy at all.  
27. I believe there were no homeless before Ronald Reagan became president.  
28. I believe there were bag ladies and bums before Ronald Reagan became president (this film clip is from 1979, a year before Reagan was elected).  
29. Drug use is at the root of most of our problems.  
30. Reducing demand for drugs will be more effective than trying to reduce supply.  
31. I believe that the death penalty for drug kingpins is not a deterrent because they have endured greater threats to their security in achieving the status of "kingpin".  
32. If we wish to penalize suppliers, we should reserve our harshest penalties for the frontline pushers in order to make the risk/reward relationship undesirable.  
33. I believe the private sector is more efficient at creating jobs than the government.  
34. Government investment should be limited to projects that are necessary for the national good.  
35. I believe that the military, courts, highway and transportation systems, the post office, law enforcement, basic scientific research and education are for the national good.  
36. I believe we need to distinguish between nice-to-have and need-to-have programs.  
37. The space station, the super-collider, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and public television are nice to have.

In Support of Two Lakota High Schools

I would like to express my support for building at least one additional high school to complement the one we already have. As a local business owner who employs a fair number of Lakota High School students, I have both a personal interest in, and first hand insight into the quality of local education.

Most of those opposed to the multiple school approach cite incremental costs and fear of "splitting" the community as their primary objections to multiple schools.  I firmly believe that the benefits of multiple schools will more than offset these potential drawbacks for several reasons.

First, the costs of operating a single mega school will most likely end up higher than estimated due to the expense of responding to the greater social ills that can come about in a large high school.  Already I hear stories of students cutting classes without fear of being caught, not to mention drug use and the presence of weapons on school property. These problems can be controlled much more easily in smaller school settings.

Second, the quality of education will be naturally improved within a smaller school setting, since fewer students will be allowed, or even tempted, to fall through the cracks. This will happen naturally as students are known on a personal level throughout the student body, faculty and administration.  Problem students thrive on anonymity, a phenomenon that increases proportionally to the size of any institution.

Third, the chance to participate in sports and extracurricular activities will increase dramatically, increasing opportunities not only for students today, but for them later in life as they move onto college and the working world.  The discipline and drive required to participate successfully in outside activities are important indicators of a student's ability.  And as much as we might wish to deny it, recruiters look more favorably upon certain extracurricular activities than others.  We should try to maximize these opportunities for our children.

Last, the fear of splitting the community is exaggerated. Yes, allegiances will be divided, especially for sports.  But dedication to the overall education system will be enhanced as our children receive top-notch educations in safe neighborhood schools, where they retain their personal identity rather than becoming numbers and statistics. I grew up in a community (Utica, Michigan) that was very similar to West Chester today.  Between 1960 and 1975 our district, covering two cities and two townships, grew from one to four high schools.  Today, as in 1960, one will find Realtors listing "Utica Schools" as a selling point.  Despite the growth and additional schools, the district  never became split, approving every levy between 1960 and 1983 when I moved away.  Athletics and academics have thrived, as have friendly rivalries.

We would all love to offer our children the best education at the lowest cost, but no option is perfect or cost-free.  Even a voucher system would simply result in public funds being used to build and staff private schools.  In the end, it is imperative that we provide our children the best education possible, for they truly are our future.  I firmly believe that minimizing the size of the school and the distance traveled to get there is the best means to that end.  To do otherwise would be shortsighted and selfish.